WASHINGTON – The folks along tony Embassy Row yesterday promised a warm welcome for Bill and Hillary Clinton, who’ve plunked down $2.8 million for a mansion in the swank neighborhood.

“I feel very excited. I want to get his autograph,” chirped 8-year-old Helena Reydams, who lives across the street from the brick colonial.

Dad Luc Reydems said the Clintons and their Secret Service escort will make the neighborhood safer, although he worried about the price neighbors might have to pay in inconvenience.

“I hope they don’t try to close down the woods,” said Reydems, nodding toward a wooded path that starts outside the Clinton house, cuts through some trees and ends up on Wisconsin Avenue.

Others expressed similar excitement about the arrival of the Clintons, which is expected sometime after Jan. 20, when the family leaves the White House to make way for President Bush.

In a quirky intersection of politics and geography, the Clintons will be neighbors of Dick and Lynne Cheney, who live a few hundred feet away. The vice president-elect is set to move into the official veep mansion on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory, also around Jan. 20 – when Al Gore moves out.

“We appreciate all the hard work of everyone who made our search for a place in Washington, D.C., productive and enjoyable,” the Clintons said in the briefest of statements.

Hillary Clinton, who will be sworn in Wednesday as New York’s junior senator, wanted a second house to call home when she’s away from her Westchester County spread.

She settled on the brick mansion – which boasts six bedrooms and seven bathrooms spread across four floors, wood floors throughout and French doors – after looking at three other homes around the city.

Outside, the home has a hidden in-ground swimming pool, a patio and terrace and a two-car garage. It sits on one-third of an acre and is 5,500 square feet.

The home at 3067 Whitehaven St. – in the part of Washington known as Massachusetts Avenue Heights – is about a 15-minute drive to the Senate, where Hillary Clinton will be working.